The theme of Christ has a prominent place in Ensor's pictorial and graphic oeuvre. In the 1890s his work acquired a strikingly satirical content and the artist made increasing use of linear arabesques. Such mass scenes, populated by grotesque figures, repeatedly recur in paintings, drawings and prints. It is noteworthy that Ensor transposed the theme to his own time, depicting a fanfaresque procession of folk, carnival figures, gendarmes, etc. Behind the figure of Christ, stout, surly-looking citizens watch the popular entertainment. The inscriptions on the banners, "Fanfares doctrinaires. Toujours réussis" and "Alimentation doctrinaire", illustrate the bourgeois condescension. Apart from a few details, the print is based entirely on the chalk drawing of the same name from 1891 (Antwerp, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, inv. 2739).
| Artist |
James Ensor
RKD
VIAF
Wikidata
|
|---|---|
| Title | The Multiplication of the Fishes |
| Date | 1891 |
| Period | 19th century |
| Medium and support | etching AAT |
| Signatures, inscriptions, and markings | signature and year bottom left: Ensor / 1891 |
| inscription on the reverse: AT | |
| inscription on the reverse: JA | |
| Collection | print room |
| Object type | etching AAT |
| Inventory number | 1998-B-85 |
| Acquisition credit |
purchase
Taevernier, Auguste (coll.) 1998 |
| Current whereabouts | Work currently not on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1998-B-85 |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/4115/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus |
300055874
religious symbolism
AAT
300056485 fantastic art AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
11D
Christ
Iconclass
11D334 adult Christ together with apostles, evangelists, saints, etc. Iconclass 25F6 fishes Iconclass 25F9 mis-shapen animals; monsters Iconclass 31A71 male sex; man Iconclass 31A72 female sex; woman Iconclass 41C621 bread, loaf Iconclass 41D283 mask Iconclass 43A(+2) festivities (+ parade, pageant, cavalcade ~ festive activities) Iconclass 46A7 crowd, mob Iconclass 52A4 Imagination; 'Imaginatione' (Ripa) Iconclass 52A44 Fantasy, Caprice; 'Capriccio' (Ripa) Iconclass 73 New Testament Iconclass 73C612 multiplication of loaves and fishes for a multitude of four or five thousand people (Matthew 14:13-21, 15:32-39; Mark 6:32-44, 8:1-10; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14) Iconclass |
| School / Style |
phantasy
satire (artistic device) AAT |
| Henri Leys, Henri de Braekeleer, James Ensor / Loys Delteil. - Paris : Chez l'Auteur, 1925 (nr. 83) |
| James Ensor : Catalogue illustré de ses gravures ; Leur description critique et l'inventaire des plaques = Geïllustreerde catalogus van zijn gravures ; Hun kritische beschrijving en inventaris van de platen = Illustrated catalogue of his engravings ; Their critical description and inventary of the plates / Auguste Taevernier. - Ledeberg (Gent) : Erasmus Boekhandel bv Amsterdam, 1973 (nr. 85) |
| James Ensor : Schrecken ohne Ende (Ausstellung Wuppertal, Von der Heydt-Museum, 12. Oktober 2008 - 8. februar 2009) / Gerhard Finckh, Joachim Heusinger von Waldegg, Herwig Todts, Norbert Hostyn. - Wuppertal : Von der Heydt-Museum, 2008 |
|
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